Gregory Agid

Clarinetist Gregory Agid has called New Orleans his home for several years and is now breaking out as a member of the new generation of New Orleans jazz musicians, brandishing his clarinet in the air as he performs onstage before audiences--wielding it further into the modern mainstream of jazz.

Agid has performed with several distinguished jazz musicians such as Delfeayo Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Marlon Jordan, Kent Jordan, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, and Jonathan Batiste. He has also performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (which has included performing alongside clarinetists Evan Christopher and Tim Laughlin in the Clarinet Woodshed hosted at the WWOZ Jazz Tent). He also has performed on the WWOZ FM radio station and at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 39th Annual Legislative Conference.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Agid and his family later moved to Honolulu, Hawaii--where he spent his childhood. After his family relocated to New Orleans when he was twelve years old during the summer of 2000, Agid's passion for jazz evolved from his love for the clarinet. While attending the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp in New Orleans, Agid was educated and mentored by Alvin Batiste, Kidd Jordan, and Clyde Kerr--musical pioneers of their generation who had also mentored several other successful musicians.

In 2002, he was accepted into the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA)--distinguished for its world-famous arts curriculum through which several New Orleans music legends have been educated and mentored. Attending NOCCA alongside Agid was fearlessly innovative and Grammy-nominated jazz trombonist and trumpeter Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott, and ingenious contemporary pianist Jonathan Batiste, who frequently performs with Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove. Here, venerated jazz musician Ellis Marsalis and Michael Pellera, the current Chair of NOCCA's Jazz Department, further mentored Agid.

In 2005, NOCCA awarded him with a music education grant that provided him with the opportunity to receive instruction from clarinet virtuoso Eddie Daniels at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Years later, Agid had the honor of performing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2008, where he and his band paid tribute to Batiste after he passed away during the previous year. Agid later graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans with a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance and a Master of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans.